The Joyful Anticipation Deepens

I want you to visualize something. Let’s say you’re going someplace and you know you’re going to end up waiting in line for an hour. Do you bring:

a) music and headphones
b) something to read
c) a crossword or Sudoku puzzle
d) all of the above on your smart phone
e) none of the above because you want to focus on waiting in line

I bet you didn’t choose the last one. Most people don’t like to wait. Instead, we try to find productive things to fill that time with. Our culture tells us that waiting is bad and a waste of time. While waiting, you could catch up on your email, finish that homework assignment, or read that important article. Have you ever checked your email while waiting for a traffic light to turn green?

We live in a culture of immediate gratification, and it’s easy for us to get impatient when things don’t happen the immediate second that we want them to. Have you ever complained to someone because a website took thirty seconds longer than normal to load?

Unfortunately for most of us, Advent is all about waiting. It’s the time of the year when the church tells us to “slow down and expectantly wait” while the rest of the world wants us to speed up and get busy with finals, shopping, parties, travel, etc. And it’s not the kind of waiting where you can distract yourself by playing on your phone. No way. This is the kind of waiting where you don’t distract yourself with anything and instead focus on the fact that you’re waiting. Its answer “E” on our little quiz from earlier.

Advent is the time of the year where Christians practice the discipline of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the coming of the Messiah. This works on two separate levels. It gives us an opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, while simultaneously reminding us to be alert for Jesus’ Second Coming.

Paul talks about “expectant waiting” in Romans 8: 15-28(MSG):

“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?”

“[…] the created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

“All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

“Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”

Counter to what our culture tells us, waiting doesn’t have to be a waste of time. Whether we’re waiting for the Second Coming, or for a movie to start, Advent serves as a reminder to us not to be impatient when we wait, but to be adventurously expectant, full of joyful anticipation for whatever God has in store for us next!

Patience is the act of practicing awareness while you wait. It’s being content with the fact that God is in control, and he has his own timetable. Next time you find yourself waiting (perhaps in a line or in traffic), rather than looking for something to distract yourself with, put your phone back in your pocket and look for God.  Allow yourself to become aware of his presence. Take some deep, slow breaths. Relax your shoulders. Pray to him. Maybe God has something to tell you, or maybe he just wants you to sit still with him for a few moments.

As Paul said, “waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother.” And the moment we get tired of waiting, God is right there with us, helping provide patience through his spirit. This Advent, don’t join in with the rest of the world as it speeds up and gets stressed out. Instead, slow down and take some deep breaths. Give up control. Allow yourself to become adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?”

Peace,

Nathan Strange
Director of Middle School Youth
Lead Creative for Student Ministries